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Justice. Only Justice Shall Thou Pursue

Friday, November 11, 2011

MF Global Fires Over 1,000 People As Liquidation of Corzine's Company Continues

MF Global, the financial company that Jon Corzine took over with the hope of turning it into another Goldman Sachs, has fired its entire workforce of 1,066 people.

A total of 1,066 employees of bankrupt broker and dealer MF Global Inc. have been fired, according to a statement issued Friday by James Giddens, the court-appointed trustee for the liquidation of the company.
Marketwatch reports that between 150 and 200 former employees are being hired to assist in the wind down of the business and processing of bankruptcy claims, according to Giddens.
MF Global is not conducting business, and will not be reorganized. About 17,000 customer account positions and approximately $1.5 billion in customer account funds have been transferred to other future commodities merchants, Marketwatch reports.

The company was laid low by decisions made by Corzine and the inability to account for hundreds of millions of dollars of its clients money.

Investigations continue into Corzine's actions, as well as those of the company and how the money was not properly accounted for.

ames Giddens, the trustee, aims to vacate MF Global's midtown Manhattan offices as soon as possible and rent out smaller, less expensive office space to handle the liquidation, according to the statement Friday. MF Global's Chicago offices will continue to be leased for a limited time period.

Some employees of MF Global in New York and Chicago already had been let go last Friday. Salaries for those dismissed in the trustee's action Friday will be paid through Nov. 15.

The 1,066 released Friday represent a little more than one-third of the 2,847 staff listed by MF Global as of March 31. The broker-dealer unit isn't being restructured and the termination of employees is a "necessary part" of the liquidation, according to the trustee's statement.

"We are saddened by the trustee's actions today to terminate to many of our colleagues," a spokeswoman for MF Global said in a statement.

The mood in MF Global's New York office was described as grim, as human-resources staffers went from floor to floor to speak to employees. Some complained of suddenness of the announcement, with numerous people learning of the terminations via newswires or television.